Door latch



D. ACOCELLO May 6, 1952 DOOR LATCH Filed April 13, 1950 INVEN TOR. 90MJN@'@KA 7CLL a ATTOEMEV Patented May 6, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE I 2,596,003 noon LATCH Domenick Acocello, Los Angelcs, Calif.

Application April 13, 1950, Serial No. 155,653

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in door latches.

More specifically speaking the invention pertains to a simplified formof door latch particularly well adapted for use upon small doors of thetype used on cupboards and medicine chests. Said circular flange assistsmaterially in maintaining said housing in proper operative position.

Owing to the simplicity of the latch structure provided by thisinvention the device in which it is embodied may be manufactured andsold at a cost in keeping with the purposes for which it is intended.

By this invention a latch structure is provided wherein the manuallyoperable latch member or dog is operated by a link furnished withmanually movable means located at the side of the door opposite to saiddog, said link having a skirt portion at all times serving to close whatwould otherwise .be an objectionable aperture through the door to whichthe device is applied.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide, the combinationwith an elongated escutcheon plate on the door, said plate carrying onits inner face mounting means for a catch lever; of verticallyreciprocable operating means for said lever, a portion of said meansbeing located interiorly of a slotted part of said plate and theremainder thereof being accessible for manual operation exteriorly ofsaid plate.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention will hereinafterappear.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, which illustrates a preferred,reduced to practice embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective View, on a smaller scale than the remainingviews, illustrating the device applied to the door of a small cabinet.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary side elevation of the structure shownin Fig. 1, with parts broken away down to a plane of section, todisclose more clearly inside structure.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section through the central part of thelatch structure, the scale being further enlarged. In this View fulllines show the latching means in locked position, and dotted lines showsaid means in the unlocked position.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary rear view of the latch and its operating meanstaken in the direction indicated by the arrow on Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view lookin at the outer face of theapplied latch plate viewed from line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a rear-top perspective view of the latching dog, separatelyshown.

Referring in detail to the drawing, a vertically elongated escutcheonplate 10, together with an overlying handle II, are shown attached tothe cabinet door 12 of a cabinet I3 by nieans of screw bolts l4, saidhandle consisting of a bridgelike member with thickened end portionshaving in them screwthreaded sockets into which said screw bolts extendand to which they are anchored.

Under said handle H is a space l5 along the inner side of which extendsthe escutcheon plate In. Underlying this part of said plate H] a slot I6is cut through the door l2. Within the upper end portion of said slot islocated a latch lever housing I! which is rigidly secured to andprojects inwardly from the overlying part of the escutcheon plate l0,this housing supporting the vertically swingable catch lever I8 upon apin !9 which bridges the space between the vertical side Walls of saidhousing.

The front part of said housing ll carries a circular flange Ila. whichfits within the inner end portion of a circular enlargement llb of theupper end portion of the slot. l6. Said enlargement may be made byboring a hole through the door and thereupon making the remainder of theslot l6.

Catch lever I8 is longitudinally grooved at 18c above and in advance ofits pivot l9, and in this grooved part is seated one end portion of awire spring 20, the mid-length part of said spring being coiled around apin 20a which spans the housing ll, the opposite end portion of saidspring being abutted against the top wall of the housing ll so as tocause the spring to urge said lever toward latching position. Said leverhas a downwardly, directed latching nose or shouldered catch element 2|and vertically across its opposite end portion is longitudinally slottedas indicated at 22, thus bifurcating that end portion of the lever insuch a manner as to provide a clearance for the upper end portion of itspendant operating link 23 which is connected to the lever by a pivot pin24 that spans the space across the levers bifurcated part.

The upper end portion of said link 23 is shown slightly deflected fromthe escutcheon plate l6, but the remaining portion of said link issubstantially straight and slidably engages the inner face of saidescutcheon plate. Throughout its lower end portion said link 23 has abroadened part 23a which carries a forwardly projecting boss 25 whichhas a loose working fit in a vertical slot 26 provided for it throughsaid escutcheon plate opposite to the lower end portion of the space 15.A bore is made through said boss 25 and the part of the link 23 fromwhich it projects, and through said bore extends a screw bolt 21 thehead of said screw bolt abutting an ear carried by a saddle shapedfingerhold clip 29, thus clamping said clip to the link and providing ameans for manually moving the latter.

The aforesaid broadened part 23a of the link 23 extends down far enoughto form a closure for the aforesaid slot 26 during all the operativepositions of the link.

In the performance of its latching function the catch lever 18cooperates with a keeper plate 32 which is countersunk below the frontedge of a cabinet shelf 33 to which it is attached. Behind themid-length portion of said plate 32 the shelf 33 is additionallyrecessed, as indicated at 34 and into this additional recess or alcoveprojects a catch-forming lip 35 formed by deflecting the metal at thelower side of a rectangular opening 36 through said plate 32, said lipbeing positioned to cooperate with the catch lever 18 to enable thelatter to latch the door in its closed position.

From Fig. 3 it will be seen that the groove Eta along the upper edge ofthe catch lever 18 extends from the hooked end portion of the lever to apoint beyond the pin [9 on which said lever is fulcrumed, and that thespring has a straight portion normally engaging the bottom of thisgroove at both sides of said pin I9, so that the spring is anchoredagainst lateral displacement in relation to the catch lever.

When the cabinet door is in the closed, latched position as shown inFigs. 2 and 3, the catch levers spring 20 holds the nose 2| of the leverdown in a latched relation to the lip of the catch plate '32, and saidlever, in turn, by means of its pin 24 holds the link 23 and thefingerhold clip 29 in the elevated position, the aforesaid boss 25 atsuch times contacting with the stop-forming upper end of the slot 26through the lower part of the escutcheon plate 10, thus limiting thedownward movement of said nose of the catch lever. In order to open thedoor the operator, while taking hold of the door handle I l with onehand, will use the finger portion of the same hand to depress said clip29 together with the link 23 which carries said clip, thus unlatchingthe catch lever from the lip 35, whereupon he may open the door bypulling outwardly upon said handle ll. Owing to the saddle shape of theclip 29, the same may be used as a knob to open the door l2 afterunlatching the catch lever 18, thus rendering it unnecessary to providethe door with the handle H.

I claim:

1. In a lock structure of the kind described, an elongated escutcheonplate secured with its length extending vertically to the outer face ofa swingable cabinet door, a housing secured to the inner face of saidescutcheon plate (said housing having a circular flange occupying acircularly enlarged upper part of a vertical slot through said door overwhich said escutcheon plate forms a closure, said housing being of aninverted U shape in cross section and open below and at the end thereofwhich is directed away from said plate, a catch lever in part occupyingthe space between the sides of said housing, a pin carried by saidhousing, said pin extending through the mid-length portion of said leverand supporting the latter for swinging movement in a vertical plane,said catch lever having a downwardly directed catch forming nose at theend of the lever which is directed toward the interior of the cabinet,said nose cooperating with stationary latching means carried by a shelfof the cabinet, a spring acting between said housing and lever andtending to swing the latter to latching position, a link pendantlypivoted to that end portion of said lever which is opposite to its nose,a manually depressible clip located adjacent to the outer face of theaforesaid escutcheon plate, means securing said clip to the lower endportion of said link in an outwardly spaced relation to the latter,there being a vertical slot through said escutcheon plate within whichsaid means has a sliding fit, the lower end portion of said link beingcontoured and dimensioned at all times to form a complete closure overthe inner side of said slot through said escutcheon plate.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 and said clip consisting of a singlepiece of sheet metal having a flange with an aperture through it, andsaid securing means consisting of a boss carried by the lower endportion of said link and screwthreaded means extending through saidaperture in said flange and securing the latter to said boss, said bosshaving a working fit in said slot.

3. In a lock structure of the kind described, an elongated escutcheonplate secured with its length extending vertically to the outer face ofa swingable cabinet door, a housing secured to the inner face of saidescutcheon plate and 0c cupying the upper part of a vertical slotthrough said door over which said escutcheon plate forms a closure, saidhousing being of an inverted U shape in cross section and open below andatthe side thereof which is directed away from said plate, a catch leverin part occupying the space between the sides of said housing, a pincarried by said housing, said pin extending through the mid-lengthportion of said lever and supporting the latter for swinging movement ina vertical plane, said catch leverihaving outwardly spaced from saidopen side of said housing an end portion furnished with a downwardlyextending catch-forming nose in a cooperative relation to stationarylatching means carried by a shelf of the cabinet, said lever havingalong its upper side portion a longitudinal groove; a wire spring tocontrol the swinging movement of said lever, mounting means for saidspring carried by said housing and mounting the spring in 'a positionwherein an end portion thereof extends along said groove, and manuallyoperable means connected with said lever to move it to unlocked positionin opposition to said spring.

4. The subject matter of claim 3 and said manually operable'meansincluding a link pendantly pivoted to that end portion of said leverwhich is opposite to its said nose, said link extending downwardlythrough the open side of said housing along the inner side of saidescutcheon plate.

5. The subject matter of claim 4 and said escutcheon plate havingthrough it a vertical slot and said link carrying a manually depressiblepart located partly in said slot and partly outside of said escutcheonplate.

DOMENICK ACOCELLO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of.this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 Great Britain pee. 19, '1911

